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March 5, 2005
Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo; Company President:
Hiroshi Kakou) will make a capital investment in and business alliance
with Kinglong of China.
The company has continued to develop pharmaceutical products using
Polyphenon E; however, in order to secure the raw materials for
Polyphenon E, we will make a capital investment in Hunan Kinglong
Bio-Resource Company of China. A summary of this follows.
| Company Invested In |
Hunan Kinglong Bio-Resource Co., Ltd.
(Changsha City, Hunan Province) |
| Equity Investment |
15% |
| Amount invested |
ca. ¥200mn |
| Executive postings |
Extraordinary Executive, 1 person; High Level
Executive (Deputy, General Affairs and Accounting, stationed
permanently), 1 person Agreement. |
| Stock transfer agreement
signed February 22, 2005 |
Since it has become increasingly likely that a pharmaceutical product
with the primary ingredient Polyphenon E, a component of tea (catechin),
on which the company has been conducting on-going research, will
be approved and commercialized as early as 2006. The company is
working toward putting infrastructure for the supply of the active
ingredient in place and has initiated a series of investments covering
the entire process, from obtaining raw materials to the manufacture
of the active ingredient.
This investment in Kinglong is intended to ensure a stable supply
of raw materials. Kinglong Bio-Resource will be responsible for
the production of 70GTP (Green Tea Polyphenon--a 70% pure green
tea extract), the intermediate raw material for Polyphenon E, and
will supply this to Mitsui Norin.
Kinglong is a company with advanced technological capabilities.
It was established by Hunan Agricultural University, one of the
three major universities involved in research on tea in China, for
the purposes of practical research on and commercialization of tea.
A 15% equity investment will be made presently; however, we intend
to increase the investment percentage in the future. Furthermore,
since the company is engaged in the production of many varieties
of tea, in addition to catechins, Mitsui Norin foresees multifaceted
business dealings with the company.
| Overview of Kinglong Bio-Resources |
| Established: |
1993 |
| Capitalization |
61.2 mn yuan |
| Shareholder |
Shanghai Nuode Bioproducts Co., Ltd. 69.7%
Hunan Agricultural University 23.6%
(N.B: 8.6% after Mitsui Norin investment)
Other |
| General Affairs and Accounting |
Mr. Li Nian Zu |
| Employees |
Circa 200 people |
| Revenues |
Circa ¥1 bn (2005 estimate) |
Concluded |
|
Regarding
Investments for Securing Raw Materials for Polyphenon E.